The Overview Effect

[Shade_Wilder]

 

Recently I flew into Koh Samui on a glide path that took me over Koh Phangan and was struck by the breath-taking beauty of the island as seen from above. It triggered a memory from back in the day when my sister was meeting me there, and she made a similar comment, "Shade, you live in paradise!". I didn't think or comment on the Full Moon Parties and the accompanying environmental degradation, I didn't think of the locals cheated out of their land by rich High-So developers, I didn't think of tourists falling off balconies or crashing motorcycles they shouldn't have been riding, I didn't think of Burmese folk being exploited because their native country was too dangerous to return to; I just said "Yup." because it was,

This is a minor example of an altered perspective, sometimes called the Overview Effect.

In order to truly understand the Overview Effect, you need to get to space and have the opportunity to see our planet in its entirety, something that only about 600 people have done in human history, and I ain't one of them (sadly). However, in an act of serendipity, I was surfing the Web and came across an article/video in BigThink (link below) where a former astronaut commented on the effect.

"A curious phenomenon often occurs when astronauts travel to space and look out on our planet for the first time; they see how interconnected and fragile life on earth is and they feel a sudden responsibility to protect it.

Astronaut Ron Garan experienced this so-called ‘Overview Effect’ when he first saw Earth from Space. When he looked out on the planet, he saw an iridescent biosphere teeming with life, all protected by a remarkably thin atmosphere, 

What he did not see was the thing that society often gives top priority; the Economy. For Garan, seeing Earth from space revealed that problems like Global Warming, Deforestation, and Biodiversity Loss are not disconnected. They are the symptoms of an underlying flaw in how we perceive ourselves as humans; we fail to realize that we are a planetary species." (BigThink, link below)

The most intriguing comment of all was the idea that the thing most often discussed by people, the Economy, simply wasn't important to an astronaut. 

Wah! Mind-blown!

I am posting this as more and more I wonder if we as a species are going to make it, and have become more and more convinced that we need to go to space for a different perspective if we are to do so; 'Humanity's Reach for the Stars' is about the only slogan I can think of that might replace "Greed is Good" as a human motto. However, I also wonder if we are worthy and, as is often the case, I find myself turning to Sci-Fi novels for answers. In "The Day the Earth Stood Still", the aliens state that there are only limited numbers of life-supporting worlds, and that a species must be deemed worthy to continue or be eradicated to allow another to try. In one of the best passages ever written, both humans and the aliens realize that standing on the brink is the only time when things truly can change. I get the sense that Humanity is on, or near, the brink of environmental disaster. Will we scrape through? I think more of us need to see the Earth from space for the Overview Effect.

Hmm... This is what cycling at 5AM on a Sunday morning does to a guy.

https://bigthink.com/life/overview-effect/

https://time.com/6084094/overview-effect/

https://www.space.com/frank-white-overview-effect

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overview_effect

Image from Google

 

[KaptainRob]

 

7 hours ago, Shade_Wilder said:

I am posting this as more and more I wonder if we as a species are going to make it, and have become more and more convinced that we need to go to space for a different perspective if we are to do so; 'Humanity's Reach for the Stars' is about the only slogan I can think of that might replace "Greed is Good" as a human motto.

[TWS60]

Nice one.

From time to time I'll geek out on these types of Big Think vids.  I know he takes grief from the basket of skeptics and denialists, but I enjoy watching/listening to Neil DeGrass Tyson talk cosmic perspective, which helps me zoom out and appreciate our speck of existence for a few moments.  Before crashing back down to Earth, thinking about the Baht foreign exchange rate and my next 90-Day report at Immigration. 

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia17171-the-day-the-earth-smiled-sneak-preview

Edited February 12, 2023 by TWS60
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[Shade_Wilder]

1 hour ago, TWS60 said:

Nice one.

From time to time I'll geek out on these types of Big Think vids.  I know he takes grief from the basket of skeptics and denialists, but I enjoy watching/listening to Neil DeGrass Tyson talk cosmic perspective, which helps me zoom out and appreciate our speck of existence for a few moments.  Before crashing back down to Earth, thinking about the Baht foreign exchange rate and my next 90-Day report at Immigration. 

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia17171-the-day-the-earth-smiled-sneak-preview

 

I love the image, Mr T; it really encapsulates the idea that we humans need to think on a bigger scale, with perhaps slightly different perspective(s), at least some of the time. And, I also am a fan of NDT.

However, I take (very, very mild) umbrage with the expression "Geek Out" as it implies that learning about new stuff is somehow weird or unwarranted; we are truly blessed to be living in a 'Golden Age of Information' where we posses vast amounts of knowledge in the palm of our hands, literally. Think about the miracle of our times; with merely a smart phone and an Internet connection, we have access to more data, ideas, concepts, thoughts, notions, cultures, etc. than we could realistically take in during a single lifetime, and each and every day more (MUCH more) is added. 

Eff me! 

Rather than somehow casting doubt on the joy of learning, we should be excoriating those that DON'T take a wee bit of time out of their busy schedules to have some intellectual exploring of stuff outside their daily activities. I get that people are tired and/or busy with the routines of daily life, but just think how much better off we would all be if every time someone mentioned The Kardashians/Love Island/Any Reality Television show, they also mentioned the latest in Physics, Cosmology, Engineering, Poetry, Social Studies, Psychology, etc.; as a species we would be waaaaaaaay further down the road to solving our collective issues and frankly just much better off.

Finally, let me add my voice to yours in promoting the site "Big Think" (bigthink.com); it is a wonderful place to pop into on an irregular basis for a new thought, a new perspective, some new information that we weren't aware of or simply to listen/read about VERY smart people telling us stuff that will fascinate. 

Just as a taste, going there now will yield articles/videos about...

• linguistics as a window to the brain
• How galaxies grow up
• commuting has psychological benefits that we miss with remote work
• world's fastest "shoes" will increase speed by 250%
• The 'Deep State' secret police is full of uneducated, incompetent underachievers
• and so very much more...

Simply put, if you are unable to find something to pique your curiosity for 30-60 minutes, perhaps there is something wrong. Back in the day of actual, physical newspapers, I used to spend Sunday mornings having an enjoyable read. Now, I tend to go to 'Big Think' and see what is new.

Image from Google